1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monolithic capacitor, and more particularly, relates to a monolithic capacitor which is effectively applicable for use in a high-frequency circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional type of monolithic capacitor relating to the present invention is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-256216, etc. This type of monolithic capacitor has an arrangement in which an equivalent series inductance (ESL) is reduced for use in a high-frequency band.
In this arrangement, a plurality of first and second internal electrodes, each of which is mutually opposing through a specified dielectric layer, respectively form a plurality of extensions, which are extended onto at least one of the two opposing sides of a capacitor itself so as to form external terminal electrodes corresponding to the respective extensions; and the external terminal electrodes are disposed on the sides of the capacitor in such a manner that a plurality of first external terminal electrodes connected to a plurality of the extensions of the first internal electrode and a plurality of second external terminal electrodes connected to a plurality of the extensions of the second internal electrodes are alternately positioned.
For instance, when current flows from the first external terminal electrodes to the second external terminal electrodes, magnetic flux, the direction of which depends on the current direction, is induced; thereby, a self-inductance is produced. However, as described above, since the respective first and second external terminal electrodes are alternately positioned, the magnetic flux induced by the current is effectively offset in parts where the first and second external terminal electrodes are located adjacent to each other so that occurrence of magnetic flux can be reduced, resulting in reduction in equivalent series inductance.
On the other hand, the arrangement above has a problem: since no external terminal electrodes are positioned on two opposing end faces of the capacitor, it is expected that there is substantially no offset effect of magnetic flux near the two end faces, thus causing a hindrance to a further reduction in ESL.